Shloka 11
Vāc–Manas Saṃvāda: Prāṇa-Apāna and the Primacy Debate (वाक्–मनस् संवादः)
केन विज्ञानयोगेन मतिक्षित्तं समास्थिता । समुन्नीता नाध्यगच्छत् को वै तां प्रतिबाधते,किस विज्ञानके प्रभावसे मति चित्तके आश्रित होती है? वह ऊँचे उठायी जानेपर विषयोंकी ओर क्यों नहीं जाती? कौन उसके मार्गमें बाधा डालता है?
kena vijñānayogena mati-kṣittaṃ samāsthitā | samunnītā nādhyagacchat ko vai tāṃ pratibādhate ||
婆羅門は言った。「いかなる真知との結合（ヴィジュニャーナ・ヨーガ）によって、意（マティ）は識の場（チッタ）に依りつつ堅く安住するのか。さらに、それが上方へと引き上げられるとき、なぜ感官の対象へ走り出さないのか。いったい誰がその道を塞ぎ、抑えとどめるのか。」
ब्राह्मण उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a philosophical inquiry into how discriminative knowledge joined with yogic discipline stabilizes the mind, preventing it from flowing outward to sense-objects; it asks what inner factor restrains or obstructs that outward movement—pointing toward themes of viveka (discernment), vairāgya (dispassion), and mastery over the senses.
In the Ashvamedhika Parva’s reflective discourse, a brāhmaṇa speaker poses probing questions about the mechanics of inner realization: how the mind becomes grounded through vijñāna-yoga, why it remains steady even when elevated, and what force acts as a ‘gatekeeper’ against distraction by worldly objects.